Election season begins, with some notes from Port Orchard

I know, I know, in America these days it’s always
campaign time. But we like to draw a line when a voter can
realistically start following local elections.

From my perspective, that starts when our editorial board starts
meeting with candidates for the primary and general elections. With
few primary races this summer we met only four times with
candidates (two Bainbridge council races, one Bremerton council,
one North Kitsap school board). But the editorial board will
have its work cut out over the next two months as we prepare for
the general election in November.

Once again we’ll endorse the candidates that earn a consensus
approval from the editorial board, though those opinions will not
be published until later in October. We’ll also once again be
uploading video of our interviews to kitsapsun.com, to give voters
an additional resource to access candidates and lend more
transparency to our board’s decisions. You may have notice the
first few video interviews are now live on the site. Keep
watching each week for more, they’ll usually post on Thursday or
Friday.

I wanted to give a shorthand version of the remainder of that
meeting so it’s on the record, and because each candidate had a few
points worth sharing.

Pinneo continued after the tape’s conclusion, stating his
opinion that city communications could improve, and his vision to
do so more proactively through social networking. That was a
transition into the recent
code city issue, which Pinneo, who was local at the most recent
council meeting on the topic, said could have been better explained
to residents. He told us he had no negative suspicions about the
plan, but he signed the Michaels’ petition because he had heard no
“specific examples” of how a code city designation will benefit
Port Orchard. Pinneo concluded by stating that he’s a man of
“moderate views,” and simiply interested in being a public servant
through a council role.

Jerry Childs used his response to talk about the leadership role
he and his wife, Shannon Childs, played in founding the Cedar Cove
Days festival from 2009, which emphasizes his philosophy that such
events help a community “reinvent itself,” a benefit in both
tourism dollars and local pride. He mentioned some additions to
this winter’s Lights and Chimes that he’s helped with, for
instance. “Things that people have fun doing, that helps improve
the image of their town.”

Childs also responded to Pinneo’s statement about the code city
debate. He said the issue was vetted properly and publicly last
spring, contends there was no reason to revisit the vote in August
following talk of the petition, and that spending $5,000 next fall
for a general election item is a “lousy way” to spend that money. A
member of the city’s finance committee, Childs also pointed out his
“nay” vote on the waterfront trail project because he felt that
safety concerns in initial plan had not be vetted adequately for a
$250,000 project, and in doing so demonstrated that he’ll butt
heads with other council members over spending.

In closing, each candidate was asked to differentiate himself
from the other, since the two clearly respect one another and agree
on many broad topics. Childs pointed to his life experience as
something that separates him from the younger Pinneo, as well as
knowledge working with nonprofit organizations. Pinneo criticized
two specific votes cast by Childs while on the council — one to
give the city’s legal advertising to the Port Orchard Independent
rather than the Sun, and another about how Lodging Tax money is
spent. Childs said he’d welcome a debate on those twoitems, and the
men agreed to do so at an upcoming public event.

They’ll debate at a League of Women Voters forum at 6:30 p.m. on
Oct. 6, at city hall, and at a Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce
forum on Oct. 13 at McCormick Woods.

Yes, we’ll endorse on all candidate races and local ballot measures (we’ll likely do state measures as well, like the new liquor initiative). There should be video of some, as we’ll invite proponents/opponents as we’re able. Look for the endorsements in late October.

I am the committee chairman that helped write the “for” statement for the Bremerton City Council Inititive that will appear in the upcoming voters pamphlet. Please feel free to contact me about this issue if you or the editorial board have any questions about our position.